South Carolina basketball star Aliyah Boston was featured in Whistle’s “No Days Off” series ahead of the Final Four. She breaks down her love of the sport and what motivates her to play the game.

Boston initially took up basketball because her sister played, but she quickly fell in love with it on her own terms. The support of friends and family has helped her stay motivated to reach new heights — including Sunday’s national championship game against UConn.

She considers anyone playing in the WNBA to be her role model because “they were living the life that I wanted to at some point,” she said. “And so I looked up to every single one of them.”

But for Boston, the all-time WNBA GOAT is Candace Parker.

“When I first started playing basketball, I loved everything about her game,” she said. “The way that she was just so versatile, she could do whatever, whenever and make it look good.”

Boston is on the same path, as she has become one of the most versatile players in college basketball. Her hard work was rewarded Wednesday when she swept the Naismith national basketball awards, being named both national player of the year and defensive player of the year. She also won the Associated Press player of the year award.

Throughout the season, Boston averaged 16.8 points and 12.2 rebounds per game, posting double-doubles in 27 straight games and helping South Carolina remain the wire-to-wire No. 1 team in the Associated Press poll. Her double-double streak was snapped in the Elite Eight, but she roared back with 23 points and 18 rebounds in the Gamecocks’ Final Four win against Louisville.

She says that the decision to attend South Carolina and play for coach of the year Dawn Staley was the “best decision I’ve ever made.”

But while the expectations have risen over the years, the junior forward tries not to put too much pressure on herself – though she recognizes that pressure can sometimes be a good thing.

“Pressure means that you’re doing a lot of things right,” she said, adding that she tries to go along with the ebbs and flows of the game.

“If something is going really good, don’t necessarily go up with it because you need to stay level headed,” she continued. “And if things are maybe not going your way, don’t get too low because that can just take you completely out of what you’ve already had in mind.”

Catch Boston’s full appearance on “No Days Off” below:

Tennis star Iga Świątek can cross another item off her bucket list, with the world No. 3 downing No. 10 Elena Rybakina 7-5, 6-3 on Sunday to clinch a spot in the 2025 Cincinnati Open final — Świątek's first-ever championship appearance at the US Open tune-up tournament.

"At the beginning, the level was pretty crazy," the six-time Grand Slam winner told reporters after Sunday's match, commending Rybakina. "But I was there to play with intensity, good quality, and I'm happy with the performance."

One of only two WTA 1000 events without a Świątek finals appearance, the annual Cincinnati Open has seen the Polish tennis star advance to the semifinals in both 2023 and 2024 — falling both times to the eventual tournament champion.

With No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka and No. 2 Coco Gauff both making quarterfinal exits, Świątek will next face No. 9 Jasmine Paolini in Monday's final, after the Italian contender fought past No. 36 Veronika Kudermetova 6-3, 6-7(2), 6-3 in their Sunday afternoon semifinal.

Świątek last shared a finals court with Paolini at the 2024 French Open, with Świątek going on to lift her fourth Roland Garros trophy following a straight-set victory in the clash.

How to watch the 2025 Cincinnati Open final

The 2025 Cincinnati Open final between Świątek and Paolini kicks off at 6 PM ET on Monday, with live coverage airing on the Tennis Channel.

Seattle added some new hardware on Sunday, installing an eight-foot, 650-pound bronze statue of Storm icon Sue Bird outside Climate Pledge Arena — making Bird the first-ever WNBA player immortalized by a former franchise.

Unveiled ahead of Sunday's Storm clash with the Phoenix Mercury, the statue depicts Bird mid-layup in a nod to the legendary player's first and last made-shots for Seattle.

"People keep asking me what it feels like to be the first, and the truth is I never set out to be first at anything," Bird said during the ceremony. "But if being the first means that I won't be the last, if this statue means that 20 years from now there will be statues of other WNBA greats... then I'm proud to be the first."

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Just Women’s Sports (@justwomenssports)

Bird played her entire 21-year WNBA career with the Storm, leading the team to four championships (2004, 2010, 2018, 2020) before calling it quits at the end of the 2022 season. The 13-time All-Star still stands as the league's career assists leader.

"I hope [this statue] tells a simple story that greatness isn't about being perfect. It's about being persistent," added Bird, who purchased a minority stake in the 2000 expansion team after she retired. "That you can be true to yourself and still achieve extraordinary things, and that when a city believes in you, anything is possible."

"Sue's legacy isn't just written in championships — it's woven into the fabric of Seattle," Storm president and CEO Alisha Valavanis said in a statement. "Her leadership transcended basketball and helped shape a cultural shift — one that expanded who gets to lead, who gets seen, and who gets celebrated."

The WNBA is taking a weekend road trip, as the No. 2 Atlanta Dream and No. 8 Seattle Storm head across the border to Vancouver, British Columbia, for the league's first-ever in-season Canada Game on Friday night.

The game features a rematch of Atlanta's 85-75 win over the Storm on Wednesday, with the win propelling the Dream up the WNBA standings — and threatening to drop Seattle out of postseason contention entirely.

"Time is running out, and the team knows it," Seattle head coach Noelle Quinn said earlier this week. "I didn't want to put so much pressure on them, but they know the situation, and they understand the urgency."

While Friday marks the first regular-season WNBA matchup played outside the US, the league has previously staged two preseason games in Canada, tipping off in Toronto in 2023 and Edmonton in 2024 — both in front of sold-out crowds.

Toronto's 2023 exhibition appeared to serve as a trial run for expansion, with the league awarding the Canadian city its first franchise — the 2026-incoming Toronto Tempo — earlier this year.

While plans for a formal move to Vancouver hasn't yet surfaced, the WNBA's explosive popularity and rapid growth outlook provide plenty of room for new markets to enter the conversation.

How to watch the 2025 WNBA Canada Game

The No. 8 Seattle Storm and No. 2 Atlanta Dream will square off inside Vancouver's Rogers Arena at 10 PM ET on Friday night.

Live coverage of the WNBA Canada Game clash will air on ION.

Coming off a series of strategic transactions, the No. 10 Washington Mystics will forge ahead on Friday night, taking on the short-staffed No. 6 Indiana Fever with a chance to play spoiler as they reshape their 2025 expectations from below the postseason cutoff line.

"There's just so many different success stories with this group," Mystics head coach Sydney Johnson said following Washington's 88-83 loss to the No. 7 Golden State Valkyries on Wednesday.

The Mystics have lost five of their last six games, and will take the court on Friday without injured new addition Jacy Sheldon and starting center Shakira Austin.

While Washington exceeded this year's early-season projections — skyrocketing above the playoff line behind leading scorer Brittney Sykes and the dynamic rookie duo of Kiki Iriafen and Sonia Citron — the now-fading Mystics chose to shift gears at the trade deadline, sending Sykes to the No. 8 Seattle Storm and shipping second-year forward Aaliyah Edwards off to the No. 13 Connecticut Sun.

With their natural 2026 draft pick secured, Washington has a shot at adding a top first-round prospect should they play out the rest of the regular season at the bottom of the WNBA standings — in other words, by strategically tanking the final weeks of 2025 play.

On the other hand, the injury-laden Indiana enters Friday's action eyeing a win after falling to the No. 11 Dallas Wings by just one point on Tuesday.

How to watch the Washington Mystics vs. Indiana Fever on Friday

The No. 10 Mystics will take on the No. 6 Fever in Indianapolis at 7:30 PM ET on Friday, with live coverage airing on ION.